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Introduction

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It is now widely recognized that Africa was the birthplace of humankind. Archaeological evidence indicates that the continent has been inhabited by humans and their ancestors for some 4,000,000 years or more. Anatomically modern humans are believed to have appeared about 100,000 years ago in eastern Africa. Somewhat later, groups of these early humans became the first explorers. They spread to northern Africa and the Middle East and, ultimately, to the rest of the world.

The coasts of northern Africa were known to peoples of Europe and Asia since ancient times. Non-Africans later gained knowledge of the western, southern, and eastern coasts. However, the interior of Africa remained largely a mystery to foreigners until the mid-19th century. It was the last of the inhabited continents to be thoroughly explored by outsiders, along with Australia. Africa lies very close to southern Europe and even closer to the Middle East region of Asia. Nevertheless, Europeans explored the distant Americas first.

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Africa posed several challenges to foreign explorers. The interior of the continent is vast, and much of the land lies far from any coast. Europeans had easy access to the north coast along the Mediterranean Sea. Just to the south their way was hindered, however, by a formidable barrier—the Sahara, which is the largest desert in the world.

Unfavorable winds and ocean currents make it difficult to sail to most of the rest of Africa’s shores. Off the west coast just north of the Equator lie the doldrums, an area of light winds. The crews of sailing ships dreaded the doldrums because their ships were often stuck there for long periods without winds to propel them. By contrast, fierce storms are common on the south. On parts of the coast, explorers also had to sail along dangerous uncharted “lee shores,” where the wind blows toward the coast. In a storm, a ship could be dashed upon those shores. Moreover, Africa’s coasts largely lack good natural harbors that provide safe landing places.

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Travel in the interior was also difficult. Boats cannot journey far on most of the continent’s great rivers. The way is often blocked by waterfalls and rapids. Large parts of the interior consist of deserts or jungles. The extremely hot, humid, and wet climate in the tropics presented serious problems to Europeans. Diseases such as malaria and yellow fever killed many explorers. Sleeping sickness and other diseases also affected the explorers’ horses and pack animals. In many places expeditions had to travel on foot and hire human porters. Wild animals such as lions and crocodiles also posed a threat in some areas. Finally, the continent was already occupied by millions of Africans, who often did not welcome the European newcomers. Explorers had to contend with the possibility of hostile encounters with local peoples.

Early Contacts and Colonies

The northern coast of Africa was considered part of the ancient Mediterranean world. The great civilization of ancient Egypt arose in northern Africa. The Egyptians explored parts of the Nile River and developed trading contacts throughout the region. The Phoenicians and the Greeks explored northern Africa as they established colonies along the coast. The region subsequently came under Roman and later Arab rule.

Phoenicians and Greeks

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Great traders and seafarers, the Phoenicians of Lebanon colonized the north coast of Africa in the 1st millennium bc. The Phoenicians mainly wanted to establish places where their trading ships could stop on their way across the Mediterranean Sea to Spain. Their largest colony was Carthage (now in Tunisia), which itself became an important commercial power. The Greeks also built colonies in the region, notably at Cyrene, in what is now Libya.

The Phoenicians were skilled sailors, and they began to explore Africa’s coasts. According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, some Phoenicians sailed completely around Africa about 600 bc. They were sent to circle Africa by the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II. The Phoenicians sailed from east to west, setting off from the Red Sea. When they returned two to three years later, they reported “unbelievable” things about what they had seen. For example, they told that, after a certain point in their voyage, the Sun lay to their right (northward). The Sun would have been in that position as they sailed around southern Africa. It is not known whether the Phoenicians actually succeeded in sailing around the entire continent, which would have been a remarkable feat indeed.

Carthage was the starting point for many explorers and colonists. The Carthaginian named Hanno was one of the greatest of the ancient explorers. About 500 bc he led an expedition to the west coast of Africa. Its aim was to set up new settlements as well as to explore. It is said that Hanno had 60 vessels, each driven by 50 oars, and that he started with 30,000 men and women. He left some people at each place he stopped to begin new settlements.

Some scholars believe that Hanno reached only as far as Morocco. However, he reported having seen a “deep river infested with crocodiles and hippopotamuses.” Some scholars think the river he saw was the Sénégal River of western Africa. Hanno also described an island where men “scampered up steep rocks” and threw stones at the explorers. That may have been an island off the coast of what is now Sierra Leone. It is possible that Hanno ventured as far as Cameroon. In any case, there is no record that anyone followed up Hanno’s voyage until the 15th century ad, more than 1,900 years later.

Herodotus also tells of explorations of the African interior. He wrote about five young adventurers of the tribe of the Nasamones. They journeyed from Libya to the southwest for many months across the desert. Eventually, they reached a great river flowing from west to east. That river was presumably the Niger, though Herodotus thought it to be the Upper Nile.

Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century bc, traveled widely himself. He visited what are now southern Egypt, Libya, and Syria, as well as many places in the Middle East and southern Europe.

Although Africa’s north coast was well explored, nonnatives mostly did not venture into the Sahara. Since prehistoric times, however, African caravans had crossed the desert along trade routes linking the north coast to the interior. The Carthaginians apparently continued those commercial relationships with the interior.

The Romans later took control of much of northern Africa. They led a series of expeditions in the Sahara between 19 bc and ad 86. The descriptions of the Sahara in the works of ancient geographers also reflect growing interest in the desert. The Greek geographer Strabo, the Roman writer Pliny the Elder, and the Egyptian geographer and astronomer Ptolemy all wrote about the Sahara. Exploration of the region by Arabs was widespread during what were the Middle Ages in Europe.

Arabs and Muslims

In the 7th and 8th centuries the Arabs conquered first Egypt, then the rest of northern Africa. They converted the peoples who lived there to Islam. The Arabs in the north continued the trade with African kingdoms in the western interior. From the interior came African slaves, ivory, and, above all, gold. Salt, copper, and other goods were sent from northern to western Africa.

Since Arabs controlled the northern ends of the trade routes, they gained access to more and more information about the land south of the Sahara. The study of geography and history flourished throughout the Muslim world from about the 9th to the 14th century. Muslim travelers also brought back much geographic information. From all over the Muslim world, the faithful traveled on pilgrimages to Mecca (now in Saudi Arabia). Muslims also journeyed to visit notable Islamic scholars.

Among the Muslim travelers who visited Africa was the geographer al-Yaʿqubi. In the 9th century he traveled in northern Africa and wrote about the Sahara and the cities of the north coast. The 12th-century geographer ash-Sharif al-Idrisi was born in Morocco. As a young man he traveled throughout northern Africa and Spain and published detailed and accurate information on both regions. He later became famous for the world maps and geographic texts he produced for the king of Sicily.

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The best-known medieval Arab traveler, Ibn Battutah, also visited Africa on his long and many journeys. He too was born in Morocco. On his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1325–27, he traveled across northern Africa to Egypt. On his second voyage, Ibn Battutah sailed along the east coast of Africa as far as Kilwa, in what is now Tanzania. He visited several cities along the way. After traveling extensively in Asia, his final voyage took him across the Sahara to western Africa. He spent a year in the Mali empire, then at the height of its power. His account of his trip is one of the most important sources for the history of that part of Africa at the time.

The Portuguese

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The Portuguese wanted to end Muslim control over northern Africa. That desire was one of several reasons why Portugal explored the continent in the 15th century. Spreading Christianity in Africa was another motive for Portuguese exploration, along with scientific curiosity. They also sought great wealth.

Portugal’s exploring aims were largely commercial. The Portuguese wanted to find a sea route around Africa to the riches of Asia. Like other European powers, they wanted to trade directly in valuable Asian spices. The older trade routes to Asia were becoming increasingly blocked to them.

The Portuguese also wanted to establish trade with western Africa. Gold, ivory, and African slaves had long been traded across the Sahara to Muslims in the north. The Portuguese sought to establish new trade routes to channel those profitable items to the west coast instead. From there they would be carried by ship across the sea to Portugal. They would make much greater profits, since they would not have to pay Muslim middlemen. The Portuguese ultimately succeeded in setting up this trade. Part of the west coast of Africa became known as the Gold Coast. The Atlantic slave trade also began. Africans were eventually shipped across the ocean in great numbers to provide slave labor in European colonies in the Americas.

Henry the Navigator

In the 1400s Prince Henry of Portugal sent ship after ship to explore the west coast of Africa. Those voyages initiated the Age of Discovery, a great period of maritime exploration in which Europeans sailed completely around the world. They also “discovered” the Americas during this period. Henry is often called Prince Henry the Navigator because he sponsored so many voyages of exploration. He did not himself join the expeditions.

In 1415 Henry took part in the Portuguese capture of Ceuta, a port at the northern tip of what is now Morocco. While he was in Ceuta, he became interested in Africa and decided to send out exploring expeditions. He first sent ships to the islands west of northwestern Africa. Portuguese ships reached Madeira about 1419, followed by the Canary Islands and the Azores. Those islands would later become important staging points for ships traveling to the Americas. After about 1445 the Portuguese set up colonies on the Azores and Madeira and grew sugar on plantations there.

Meanwhile, Henry’s ships were pushing southward, charting Africa’s west coast. An important achievement came in 1434 when the navigator Gil Eanes rounded Cape Bojador (now in Western Sahara). The cape is a dangerous reef-lined stretch of the coast. Modern scholars think that Eanes may have actually rounded another cape to the north.

During the next years, Henry’s captains pushed southward beyond the Río de Oro. From 1440 Portuguese expeditions were equipped with a new and lighter type of ship, the caravel. In 1445 the Portuguese navigator Dinís Dias sailed a caravel past the mouth of the Sénégal River. He mistakenly thought the river was a branch of the Nile. Dias continued southward, reaching the westernmost point of Africa. He named it Cape Verde, meaning “Green Cape,” because the headland had tall trees and fragrant vegetation.

In 1456 Henry sent the navigator Diogo Gomes to continue the coastal exploration. Gomes sailed south beyond the Gêba River, which is now in Guinea-Bissau. On the return trip he traveled up the Gambia River to the town of Cantor (now Kuntaur, The Gambia). There he met men from the important trading city of Timbuktu, in the Mali empire. He could not explore any farther inland because his crew had fallen ill. On a second voyage about 1460, Gomes landed at São Tiago in the Cape Verde islands. The Portuguese soon began colonizing those islands.

Seaway to India

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By the time Henry died in 1460, his navigators had explored the coast as far south as Sierra Leone. For a time the Portuguese were busy fighting the Moroccans, and few exploring expeditions were sent out. John II became king of Portugal in 1481. Under John, the Portuguese once again began exploring Africa regularly. In 1481–82 they established a fortress and trading post at Elmina (now in Ghana) on the Gulf of Guinea.

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In 1482 John sent the navigator Diogo Cão to search for a seaway around southern Africa to India. Cão instead discovered the mouth of the Congo River. There he set up a stone pillar to mark his discovery and to claim Portuguese authority over the area. Cão then traveled southward along the coast of what is now Angola. He put up a second stone pillar at Cape Santa Maria. Other Portuguese explorers later stood pillars at other points on the African coast. On a second voyage, in 1485–86, Cão reached Cape Cross (now in Namibia).

In 1487 John sent Pêro da Covilhã and Afonso de Paiva to visit India and Ethiopia by an overland route. That same year the king had Bartolomeu Dias take over the task of finding the southern end of Africa. In an impressive feat of navigation, Dias rounded the stormy Cape of Good Hope at Africa’s southern tip in 1488. He reached the continent’s east coast and then returned home. The seaway from western Europe to India at last lay open. In 1497–99 the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama made the first trip around the Cape of Good Hope to India. Along the way he explored the coasts of eastern Africa. The Portuguese soon captured trading cities all along the east coast.

The Portuguese had thus completed many of their main objectives in exploring Africa. They had established profitable trade with western Africa and had found a route to India. They had also charted the coasts of Africa that had long been unknown to foreigners, discovering the continent’s true outline.

The interior of Africa is quite difficult to explore, and Portugal’s great talents lay in sea travel. Instead of venturing farther inland, the Portuguese focused on maintaining and exploiting their colonies on the coasts. They continued to trade in gold and slaves in Africa and in spices in Asia. However, Jesuit missionaries from Portugal began to travel through the interior in order to convert Africans to Christianity. Those Jesuits became the first Europeans to reach many areas of inland Africa. The Portuguese kept much of the work of their explorers secret. The achievements of the early Jesuit explorers thus remain less well known than those of later explorers.

The Mysteries of the Great Rivers

After the Portuguese expeditions, European exploration of Africa largely ceased for some 200 years. European countries were more interested in exploiting the trade in slaves and gold at the west coast. In the 19th century the growing movement to abolish slavery began to draw attention to the continent. Scientific curiosity also sparked new interest in the interior. Europeans wanted to solve the “mysteries” of that vast land. Indeed, it was seen as a rebuke to modern science that one of the continents remained largely unknown.

Explorers also trekked into the interior in search of new avenues for profitable trade. Europeans wanted to bring new commerce and “progress” to a land they thought was “uncivilized.” Africa was long known to Europeans as the “Dark Continent” because they thought it was a land of ignorance and backwardness. Europeans believed that it was their moral duty to bring Christianity and Western civilization to the “primitive” peoples of Africa. They viewed native African religions and cultures as markedly inferior. Christian missionaries from Great Britain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands became active in Africa.

Travel in the interior remained challenging. Explorers had to contend with the extreme climates of the deserts and the rainforests. Diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, dysentery, and sleeping sickness abounded. Because of those dangers, Europeans began to view the continent’s explorers as dashing and romantic figures. It became fashionable to seek adventure in what Europeans viewed as an exotic and “savage” land. By the end of the 19th century, the renewed European interest in Africa had led to the colonization of nearly the entire continent.

The focus of European explorers was to understand at last the geography of Africa’s great river systems. It was hoped that the rivers could provide transportation into the interior. Better transportation would help advance trade and development. The “golden age” of African exploration began with Scottish explorer James Bruce. He searched for the source of the Nile River during daring and difficult travels in Ethiopia in 1768–71. The “riddle” of where the Nile arose was not solved, however, for about a hundred more years. Meanwhile, Europeans explored the Niger River in the west, the Zambezi and Congo rivers in the central regions, and the East African lakes.

The Europeans were, of course, exploring a land that was already populated. They were usually assisted in their explorations by local Africans. Africans served as guides, envoys, servants, laborers, and porters for the explorers. African interpreters were essential. They helped the explorers communicate with various local peoples along the way.

The Niger and Western Africa

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Many expeditions to the interior were sponsored by the African Association. That British organization was founded in 1788 to promote the scientific exploration of Africa. One of the association’s founders and leaders was Joseph Banks. He was president of Britain’s scientific Royal Society. Banks was also an explorer, having served as a naturalist on James Cook’s first voyage around the world. In 1830 Britain’s Royal Geographical Society was founded. It soon absorbed the African Association and continued its mission of funding African exploration.

The African Association initially emphasized western Africa. Since ancient times, Europeans had known that a great river—the Niger—existed in the western interior. However, the river’s source, direction of flow, and outlet were still unknown. Some people believed that the Niger River emptied into the Sénégal River. Others thought that its outlet was in the Gambia, the Congo, or even the Nile.

The African Association sent several explorers to the Niger River. The first few expeditions were not successful. For example, the explorer Daniel Houghton did not reach the river on his quest in 1790–91. However, he heard from local people that the river flowed eastward. He sent news of that discovery back to England, but he never returned himself. Houghton was robbed by some traders and abandoned in the desert of western Mali, where he died.

Park reaches the Niger

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The African Association next asked a young Scottish surgeon named Mungo Park to investigate the Niger. Park began his exploration at the mouth of the Gambia River on June 21, 1795. He traveled up that river for 200 miles (320 kilometers) to a British trading station called Pisania (now Karantaba, Gambia). He continued inland on the river and then set off on foot. Hampered by fever and other hardships, he crossed the basin of the upper Sénégal River. Park was robbed, and most of his servants deserted him. An Arab chief then captured and imprisoned him for four months. Park escaped on July 1, 1796. However, he had to continue his journey with little more than a horse and a compass.

On July 20 Park reached the Niger River near Ségou (now in Mali). He determined once and for all that the river flows from west to east. He traveled downstream on the Niger for 80 miles (130 kilometers) to the village of Silla. He was finally forced to turn back for lack of supplies.

Traveling on foot, he took a more southerly route on his return. After crossing mountainous country, he became dangerously ill with fever for seven months. With the assistance of a slave trader, he reached Pisania on June 10, 1797. He returned to Britain and wrote an account of his adventures. The book became a popular success and made him famous.

A few years later the British government asked Park to head a second expedition to the Niger. Commissioned as captain, he led a party of 40 Europeans, mostly soldiers. Park first traveled to Pisania. On August 19, 1805, he reached Bamako (now in Mali) on the Niger River. By then all but 11 of his party had died of disease. Resuming the journey by canoe, he and his surviving companions reached Ségou. The local ruler gave him permission to continue his voyage down the unexplored river. Hoping to reach the river’s mouth at the coast, he set sail with eight companions on November 19, 1805. The explorers left from Sansanding, a little below Ségou. They were never heard from again. In 1812 it was learned that the explorers had sailed more than 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) down the river. They reached the rapids at Bussa, where they were attacked by local inhabitants and Park was drowned.

Clapperton explores Nigeria

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Hugh Clapperton was the first European to return with a firsthand account of what is now northern Nigeria. In 1821 he joined an expedition to the Niger River basin that was sponsored by the British government. The party also included Walter Oudney and Dixon Denham. The men left Tripoli (now in Libya) and journeyed southward across the Sahara. They successfully crossed the great desert. In early 1823 they became the first Europeans to view Lake Chad. They were also the first to enter the province of Bornu (now in Nigeria).

In December 1823 Denham explored the region around Lake Chad. Meanwhile, Clapperton and Oudney set out westward. Oudney died within about a month. Clapperton continued on, traveling to the cities of Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, and Zaria (all now in Nigeria). He and Denham returned to England in June 1825.

Almost immediately afterward, Clapperton sailed to western Africa to begin a second expedition. In December 1825 he journeyed inland from the Bight of Benin, a bay of the Atlantic Ocean off of Africa’s west coast. The expedition also included Richard Lemon Lander, Clapperton’s servant. The explorers crossed the Niger River and traveled via Kano to Sokoto. Clapperton became ill and died near Sokoto in April 1827. Lander returned to Kano and then traveled back to the coast.

The fabled Timbuktu

The ancient city of Timbuktu (now in Mali) had long captured the imagination of explorers. Rumors of its great wealth in gold and of its many scholars had reached Europe centuries earlier. Several explorers, including Mungo Park, had tried in vain to reach the fabled city. Timbuktu has often been used as a symbol for remoteness. Some routes to the city took explorers through disease-ridden jungles. The other routes passed through deserts where explorers were attacked by bandits.

The Scottish explorer Alexander Gordon Laing was the first European known to have visited Timbuktu. He took the desert route. In July 1825 he left the north coast at Tripoli on his journey across the Sahara. He reached Ghadamis (now in Libya) by September. He then entered the vast country of the nomadic people known as the Tuareg. One night in early 1826, some Tuareg attacked the explorers in their tents. Laing had to fight for his life and was severely wounded. He recovered and continued onward with the other survivors. Eventually, however, all his remaining companions died of disease.

After trekking alone through the desert, he finally reached Timbuktu on August 18, 1826. The local ruler urged him to depart because he was concerned that a non-Muslim would not be safe in the area. Laing left Timbuktu on September 24 and was murdered by Tuareg people two days later.

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The French explorer René-Auguste Caillié was the first European to reach Timbuktu and survive. Caillié had studied Islam and learned Arabic. He reached Timbuktu disguised as an Arab. He left the coast of western Africa in April 1827, but his journey was interrupted by five months of illness. Caillié at last reached Timbuktu on April 20, 1828. He remained there for about two weeks, finding the city significantly less impressive than was suggested in legend. Timbuktu had declined; it had no fabulous wealth, and it was no longer a great center of scholarship. Caillié returned across the Sahara to France via Morocco with firsthand knowledge of the city.

The Lander brothers

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At the request of the British government, the English explorer Richard Lemon Lander (who had earlier traveled with Hugh Clapperton) returned to western Africa. This time he traveled with his brother John. The Lander brothers sailed to the Bight of Benin. They landed at Badagry (now in Nigeria) on March 22, 1830. From there they traveled inland to Bussa and explored the Niger River upstream for about 100 miles (160 kilometers). The brothers then began a hazardous canoe trip downstream to the river’s delta. They became the first Europeans to reach the mouth of the Niger River. They thus confirmed that the river empties into the Atlantic Ocean. While exploring the delta, the Lander brothers were seized by local tribesman. They were held captive until a large ransom was paid.

The Benue River

The greatest tributary of the Niger River is the Benue. In the second half of the 19th century, two German explorers—Heinrich Barth and Eduard Robert Flegel—charted the course of the Benue River.

Barth was a scholar who was fluent in French, Spanish, Italian, English, and Arabic. He participated in an expedition sponsored by the British government that aimed to suppress the slave trade. Early in 1850 he set out from Tripoli. The expedition was led by the English explorer and antislavery activist James Richardson. The party also included the German geologist and astronomer Adolf Overweg.

From Tripoli the men crossed the Sahara. When Richardson died in March 1851 in northern Nigeria, Barth assumed command of the expedition. He explored the area south and southeast of Lake Chad. He also mapped the upper reaches of the Benue River. Overweg died in September 1852. Barth continued on to the city of Timbuktu, remaining there for six months. He returned to London via Tripoli in 1855. Despite ill health and the loss of his colleagues, he had traveled some 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers). He had returned to Europe with the first account of the middle section of the Niger River.

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Flegel was the first European to reach the source of the Benue River. In 1879 he traveled about 525 miles (845 kilometers) up the Benue. In 1880 he sailed on the Niger River to Sokoto. With a local ruler’s permission, he explored the Benue River basin in 1882–84. In the course of his travels, he reached the Benue’s source, near Ngaoundéré (now in Cameroon).

Livingstone in the Heart of Africa

For more than 30 years, the Scottish missionary David Livingstone explored Africa. He traveled the continent from near the Equator to the Cape and from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. On long voyages in southern and central Africa, he explored the Kalahari basin and the Zambezi River. He later investigated the East African lakes.

Livingstone gained worldwide fame as an explorer. His exploits helped awaken the interest of the outside world in the then largely unknown continent. In so doing, he helped pave the way for its European colonization later in the 19th century. Livingstone believed deeply, however, that Africans could advance into the modern world. In that sense he later served as an inspiration for African nationalism and independence.

Of working-class origins, Livingstone studied theology and medicine in Glasgow while working part-time in a cotton mill. He had originally intended to work in China as a medical missionary, introducing Western medicine and Christianity. He was prevented from going to China, however, when war broke out between China and Britain. He later met Robert Moffat, the noted missionary to southern Africa. That meeting convinced Livingstone that he should instead take up his work in Africa. On November 20, 1840, Livingstone was ordained as a missionary. He set sail for South Africa at the end of the year and arrived at Cape Town on March 14, 1841.

From the moment he arrived, Livingstone determined to become an explorer. He wanted to open up the continent for Christianity and European commerce and civilization. He believed that accomplishing that would help end the slave trade, which he strongly opposed. In addition, the delights of geographic discovery soon became apparent to him. A major aim of his great journeys was to gather new information about the continent.

Crossing the Kalahari

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For the next 15 years, Livingstone was constantly on the move in the African interior. First, he ventured north of Cape Town into the Kalahari, a vast dry plain. By 1842 he had already traveled farther north in the Kalahari than any other European. In 1844 he traveled to Mabotsa to establish a mission station. Along the way he was mauled by a lion, and his left arm was injured. The following year Livingstone married Moffat’s daughter Mary. She accompanied him on many of his travels.

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With assistance from local peoples, Livingstone crossed the Kalahari in 1849. He was accompanied by William Oswell, an English big-game hunter. It was difficult to travel in the Kalahari, large parts of which are desert. Although other parts receive slightly more rainfall, they completely lack surface water. Much of the basin is also covered by deep sands. The expedition traversed the Kalahari from south to north with great effort. The men used local water holes found by local guides.

On August 1, 1849, Livingstone and his companion became the first Europeans to see Lake Ngami. For that discovery Livingstone was awarded a prize from the Royal Geographical Society. That was the beginning of his lifelong association with the society, which encouraged him to continue his explorations.

Livingstone crossed the Kalahari again in 1851. That time his pregnant wife and their three children joined him. Livingstone eventually reached the Zambezi River. On the journey back, Mary gave birth to another child. In 1852 she and the children returned to Britain because of her health and the children’s need for security and education.

Crossing the continent

With his family safely in Scotland, Livingstone was able to set out on his next major journey. His first goal was to reach the Atlantic coast to open up a new avenue of commerce that would undercut the slave trade. In a famous statement in 1853, he made his purpose clear: “I shall open up a path into the interior, or perish.” On November 11, 1853, he set out northwestward from Linyanti at the approaches to the Zambezi River. He carried little equipment and traveled with only a small party of Africans.

Livingstone completed a long arduous journey that would have wrecked the health of many people. He first canoed upstream on the Zambezi. He then continued on land, crossing the watershed of central Africa. Although Livingstone was ill with malaria, he reached Luanda, Angola, on the west coast on May 31, 1854. He began the return trek in September, reaching Linyanti about a year later. He fell ill again along the way.

Continuing eastward, Livingstone explored the Zambezi River regions downstream. He reached the east coast at Quelimane, Mozambique, on May 20, 1856. His most spectacular visit on this leg of his journey was to the thundering, smokelike waters about midway along the Zambezi. On November 16, 1855, he became the first European to see this mighty waterfall. The local Africans called the waterfall “The Smoke That Thunders” in their language. Livingstone named it Victoria Falls after the British queen.

Livingstone returned to England on December 9, 1856, as a national hero. During the previous three years, news about his travels had stirred the imagination of English-speaking peoples everywhere. He recorded his achievements in a book, Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa (1857). The book quickly sold more than 70,000 copies. He spent six months on a speaking tour in the British Isles. Honors flowed in upon him. His increased income meant that he was now able to provide adequately for his family, which had lived in near poverty since returning to Britain.

Zambezi expedition

Back in Africa in 1858, Livingstone began an expedition to navigate the Zambezi River. He believed that the river was “God’s highway,” through which the British would bring Christianity, British commerce, and European civilization to the peoples of the African interior.

The British government sponsored the expedition. It was much better equipped and organized than Livingstone’s previous journeys. This time the expedition included 10 Africans and six Europeans, including Livingstone’s brother Charles. Livingstone’s wife later returned from Britain to join him. The expedition took a paddle-wheeled steamboat and other vessels and was well stocked with provisions. The explorers set off from Quelimane on March 12, 1858. They traveled upstream (westward) on the Zambezi River.

The Zambezi expedition was beset by troubles. Quarrels broke out among the Europeans, and some of them were dismissed. Several members of the expedition were dissatisfied with Livingstone’s leadership. Moreover, the explorers discovered that it was impossible to travel to the middle course of the Zambezi River by ship. Their way was barred by rapids in western Mozambique. After traveling back downstream on the Zambezi, they explored the Shire River of eastern Africa instead.

In September 1859 Livingstone and his party were the first British people to reach the districts around Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi). Those districts looked like promising places to set up British colonies. Livingstone made two attempts to find a route to those districts that would bypass Portuguese territory. He explored the Ruvuma River but could not find a good route. To add to Livingstone’s troubles, Mary fell ill with malaria. She died at Shupanga, on the Zambezi River, on April 27, 1862.

The expedition was not successful from a commercial point of view. The British government ended it in 1863. On the journey back, Livingstone took a small vessel on a hazardous voyage of 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) across the Indian Ocean to India. From there he returned to Britain. Although the Zambezi expedition had not met its goals, it had gathered valuable scientific information. On his voyages along the Zambezi, Livingstone had charted the river’s course. His map of the river remained the most accurate until the 20th century. His exploration of the Lake Nyasa region led to later British missionary activity and colonization there, in what later became Malawi.

In 1864 Livingstone and his brother Charles wrote a book about their Zambezi voyage. Livingstone soon returned to Africa on what would be his last expedition—a quest to find the source of the Nile River.

The Nile and Eastern Africa

The whereabouts of the source of the Nile River had intrigued people since ancient times. The river, which is the world’s longest, rises in eastern Africa and flows generally northward to the Mediterranean Sea. The great civilization of ancient Egypt was centered on the Nile. The ancient Egyptians were probably familiar with the river as far as what is now Khartoum, Sudan. They also knew of the Blue Nile, the Nile’s largest tributary, as far as Lake Tana, Ethiopia. However, they showed little or no interest in exploring the section of the Nile known as the White Nile, in southern Sudan and in South Sudan. The source of the Nile was unknown to them.

In 457 bc the Greek historian Herodotus traveled up the Nile. He journeyed as far as the first cataract, or waterfall, at Aswan. About the second century bc, the Greek writer Eratosthenes sketched a nearly correct route of the Nile to Khartoum. He correctly suggested that lakes are the source of the river.

A Roman expedition searched for the source of the Nile in ad 66. The explorers were impeded by the swamps of Al-Sudd in what is now South Sudan and had to turn back. Ptolemy, a Greek astronomer and geographer who lived in Egypt, wrote about the Nile. In ad 150 he identified the source of the White Nile as being in the high snow-covered “Mountains of the Moon.” Today it is thought that he was referring to the Ruwenzori Range in central Africa.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

From the 17th century onward, several attempts were made to explore the Nile. In 1618 Pedro Páez, a Spanish Jesuit priest, correctly traced the source of the Blue Nile to a spring near Lake Tana. He was the first European to visit the lake, but at the time few people learned of his achievement. In 1770 the Scottish explorer James Bruce also visited the spring. He thought that he had found the source of the main Nile River as well as that of the Blue Nile. Bruce published a vivid account of his journeys, but many people in Britain doubted that it was true. They were suspicious partly because he had reported his discoveries to the French court first. Reports by later travelers, however, confirmed the accuracy of Bruce’s information. However, the spring he visited was not the source of the Nile.

Modern exploration of the Nile basin began when Egypt conquered Sudan starting in 1821. As a result, the Egyptians learned more about the courses of the Blue Nile and the White Nile. A Turkish officer, Selim Bimbashi, led three expeditions between 1839 and 1842. Two of them reached the point in what is now South Sudan where rapids make navigation of the Nile difficult.

After these expeditions, traders and missionaries began to establish stations in South Sudan. From an Austrian missionary, Ignaz Knoblecher, came reports in 1850 of lakes farther south. In the 1840s the German missionaries Johannes Rebmann and Johann Ludwig Krapf established a mission station in eastern Africa. In 1848 Rebmann became the first European to see the snow-topped Mount Kilimanjaro. The following year Krapf ventured still farther inland and discovered Mount Kenya. He and Rebmann also heard from traders of a great inland sea that might be a lake or lakes. On the basis of Arab information, another missionary, Jakob Erhardt, created a map that showed an enormous inland lake.

Back in Europe, people did not believe the news that there were snowcapped mountains so close to the Equator until more than a decade later. However, Rebmann, Krapf, and others thought that those peaks might be the “Mountains of the Moon” that Ptolemy had described some 1,700 years earlier.

Burton and Speke

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The reports of these mountains and large inland lakes stimulated fresh interest in finding the source of the Nile. The English explorers Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke tried to solve the mystery of the river in 1857–58. They set off from the island of Zanzibar, off the coast of east-central Africa, and followed an Arab trade route inland. They suffered almost every kind of hardship Africa could inflict. On February 13, 1858, they became the first Europeans to discover Lake Tanganyika. When they finally arrived on its shores, however, Burton was so ill from malaria that he could not walk. Speke was virtually blind. Moreover, the explorers realized that the lake they had found was not the source of the Nile.

Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum; photograph, J.R. Freeman & Co. Ltd.

Ailing and disappointed, Burton wished to return and prepare a new expedition. Speke, who had recovered more quickly, pushed on alone to the northeast. On July 30, 1858, he discovered a large lake. He named it Lake Victoria after the queen of Great Britain. Without exploring farther, Speke returned to England, sure that he had found the true source of the Nile. He was correct; Lake Victoria is the river’s chief source. Speke had not, however, seen the outlet. Burton was unwilling to accept that Lake Victoria was the source without further exploration. That disagreement led to a long and bitter public feud between the two former partners.

Speke was the first to return to London. There, the Royal Geographical Society honored him and gave him funds to return to Africa. Burton, largely ignored and denied financing for a new exploration of his own, felt betrayed.

Speke, Grant, and Baker

The Granger Collection, New York

Speke returned to Africa in 1860. On that journey he was accompanied by his friend James Augustus Grant, a Scottish soldier and explorer. The explorers trekked from Zanzibar to the land west of Lake Victoria. They became the first Europeans to see the Virunga Mountains and the Kagera River. On July 28, 1862, Speke found the Nile’s exit from Lake Victoria and named it Ripon Falls. (Grant was not with him at the time.) The party then tried to follow the river’s course, but an outbreak of tribal warfare required them to change their route. The explorers continued northward to Gondokoro (in South Sudan).

At Gondokoro, Speke and Grant met two other explorers: Samuel White Baker of England and Florence von Sass of Hungary. Baker had earlier purchased von Sass from a slave market. She helped him explore eastern Africa and later became his wife. In 1861 Baker and von Sass had explored the tributaries of the Nile around southern Ethiopia. They reached Gondokoro by February 1863. There, Speke and Grant told them of another lake that was rumored to lie west of Lake Victoria. That information helped the Baker party to locate Lake Albert in March 1864.

Meanwhile, Speke and Grant had returned home. Speke’s claim to have found the Nile source was again challenged in England. A public debate was set up in which he and Burton would present their arguments. On the day of the debate, however, Speke was killed in a hunting accident. Burton and some others thought that he committed suicide.

Livingstone’s quest for the Nile

In 1866 David Livingstone, then world famous, embarked on another expedition. He wanted to explore the central African watershed and find the ultimate sources of the Nile. As on previous journeys, he also sought to spread Christianity and expose the horrors of the slave trade.

The party struck out from Mikindani on the east coast. Raids by the Ngoni people soon compelled them to change routes. In September some of Livingstone’s followers deserted him. To avoid punishment when they returned to Zanzibar, they said that Livingstone had been killed by the Ngoni. Although it was proved the following year that Livingstone was still alive, a touch of drama was added to the reports about his expedition.

Drama mounted as Livingstone traveled northward from the south end of Lake Nyasa. Early in 1867 a deserter carried off Livingstone’s medical chest, but he pressed on into central Africa. He was the first European to reach Lake Mweru (November 8, 1867) and Lake Bangweulu (July 18, 1868). Assisted by Arab traders, Livingstone reached Lake Tanganyika in February 1869. Despite illness, he continued onward. On March 29, 1871, he reached Nyangwe on the Lualaba River in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That point was farther inland than any European had ever reached from the east coast.

The Granger Collection, New York

Livingstone returned to Ujiji on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika on October 23, 1871. He was by then very ill. Search parties had been sent to look for him because he had not been heard from in several years. The Welsh American journalist Henry Morton Stanley, a correspondent of the New York Herald, was finally successful. Leading a well-funded expedition, Stanley and his caravan forced their way through land disturbed by fighting. He headed for Ujiji, Livingstone’s last known port of call. There, in October or November, he found the old hero, ill and short of supplies. Stanley greeted him with the famous words, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” (The exact date of the encounter is unclear, as the two men wrote different dates in their journals.)

Stanley brought much-needed food and medicine, and Livingstone soon recovered. A cordial friendship sprang up between the two men. Together they explored the northern reaches of Lake Tanganyika and began trekking eastward. However, Livingstone refused all of Stanley’s pleas to leave Africa with him. On March 14, 1872, Stanley departed alone for England. There he published How I Found Livingstone, which immediately became a best seller.

Livingstone moved south again, obsessed by his quest for the Nile sources and his desire to destroy the slave trade. His illness finally overcame him. On May 1, 1873, at Chitambo (now in Zambia), Livingstone’s servants found him dead.

Soon thereafter the question of the source of the Nile was finally settled by the British general Charles George Gordon. Between 1874 and 1877, he and his officers followed the river and mapped part of it.

Cameron crosses the continent

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Meanwhile, in 1873 the Royal Geographical Society had sent out an expedition to offer aid to Livingstone. It was led by Verney Lovett Cameron. He departed from Bagamoyo on the coast opposite Zanzibar in late March 1873. In October the expedition met Livingstone’s servants bearing his dead body. They were carrying his embalmed body to the coast, where it could be sent to England for burial. The difficult journey ultimately took them nine months.

Cameron continued to Ujiji, where he recovered some of Livingstone’s papers. He then set out to explore the southern half of Lake Tanganyika. He discovered that its outlet is the Lukuga River, a tributary of the Congo River. Cameron then traced the Congo-Zambezi watershed for hundreds of miles. He reached the west coast of Africa near Benguela, Angola, on November 7, 1875. He was the first European to cross equatorial Africa from sea to sea.

Stanley explores central Africa

Lordprice Collection/Alamy

When Livingstone died, Stanley resolved to take up the exploration of Africa where he had left off. He secured financial backing from the New York Herald and the Daily Telegraph of London. On November 12, 1874, he led a caravan out of Zanzibar to Lake Victoria. His visit to a local ruler led to the eventual establishment of a British protectorate in Uganda. On the shores of Lake Victoria, a number of the expedition’s men died in skirmishes with suspicious tribespeople. Those casualties gave rise in England to criticism of this new kind of traveler with his journalist’s outlook and forceful methods.

Stanley and his men next explored Lake Tanganyika. From there, they journeyed westward to the Lualaba River in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The river proved to be the headstream of the Congo River. He proceeded to follow the Congo to its mouth. When he embarked on his long journey, however, he had no way of knowing what river it was or where it would lead him. Livingstone had also discovered the Lualaba River. Noting that the river flowed northward, he had hoped that it might be the headwaters of the Nile. But as Stanley journeyed downstream, the river turned westward. He decided, as Livingstone himself had suspected, that it might be the Congo River. The Congo’s mouth on the west coast was already known. After a difficult journey of some 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers), Stanley and his men reached the Atlantic Ocean on August 12, 1877. He described his epic journey in Through the Dark Continent (1878).

Stanley wanted to open up the Congo region for colonization. Failing to enlist British support, he entered the service of the king of Belgium, Leopold II. From 1879 to 1884, Stanley explored the Congo basin for the king. His work led to the creation of the Congo Free State, which was ruled with great brutality by King Leopold.

Within a few years several European countries were competing with each other to found African colonies. They were wildly successful; nearly the entire map of Africa was carved up into European territories.

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